ABSTRACT
Taking off from some basic, rather well-established, terms for social and ideational movements that have, according to scholarly consensus, led to secularisation, as well as stipulating the terms for the efforts to impede theses movements, the chapter’s main concern is the weaknesses of certain theories of secularisation, particularly the one presented by philosopher Charles Taylor (2007) in A Secular Age. It is argued that Taylor’s theory misrepresents pre-secular societies, misunderstands the nature of religion and represses the practical side of human life. The influence of romantic anti-modernism, often going back to the persistent image of primitive mentality fashioned by Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, on scholars taking an interest in religion under capitalism, conceptualised by them as religion under modernity, is highlighted. At the end of the chapter, the theme of atheism and “devotion to earthly entities” is tackled.
